Using storage bed could cause pests

New home designs in present days have limited space and it begins to feel like especially many of our young married couples no longer get to enjoy the luxury of a spacious and wide home our parents used to have in their flats or apartments. In the olden days, many would have recall the large living room area with a long and wide kitchen running down all the way to the common toilet. This is common amongst older housing blocks and now a rarer sight in newer blocks built.

Well there are the pros and cons of having a small apartment to live in actually, it makes cleaning up much more less tedious and easier to manage with. Especially when the owners are busy with corporate work in the day, this makes housework in the day almost impossible to do. Many of them now would also prefer a one or two bedroom unit apartment just nice for a small family.

As far as home maintenance and keeping infestation at bay, here is a list of useful articles on home management

• Why is it essential to invest in home maintenance?
• Reasons why you should not procrastinate housekeeping activities.
• Ways to keey ants away from your kitchen.
• When do you need to start engaging in pest control.
• Useful pest control tips for new and current home owners.

Spaces in a small unit have to be carefully planned and considered. There is a penchant for smart and creative ways to make even the narrowest of space available for storage ideas. Speaking of this, some home owners may think of a storage space under the bed.

The free space right beneath the bed is a perfect place to use for storage because no one gets there and yes, it’ll just be space wasted if left empty right? It is also quite a brilliant idea to purchase a bed altogether with a bottom storage function - a storage bed.

Let us tell you why having storage under the bed has its downside

Not because bed bugs are bugs meant for bed infestation, however, bed bugs do have a close relation to human and bedding due to the body warmth they seek from their hosts. As bed bugs are nocturnal, meaning they will emerge at night to seek their blood source, and the easiest target is to seek warm when we did not notice as we sleep while they attack us by sucking blood off individuals.

Since they need to stay close to hosts, they typically will hang around nearby items and spaces including curtains, seams, headboard, corners of walls and edges of carpets or rugs. With their tiny body size, we will tend to miss them as they slot themselves conveniently along slits and cracks around the bedroom.

As bed bugs can invade the home quickly by spreading its’ presence through reproduction, it is then essential to seek pest control help in conducting a thorough bed bug inspection and undergo adequate bed bug control programme to fully eradicate both the adult bugs and their eggs.

You may also like: Where do bed bugs lay eggs?

Common household pests such as ants, spiders, cockroaches and lizards would really love to share a bedroom space in there together with you underneath that dark and well-hidden space.

• Ants at home may build a nest. Pharaoh’s ants nest indoors almost anywhere; for example, behind a stack of newspapers. Your storage bed space underneath is a likely location target. To deal with Pharaoh’s ants could be very tricky; seek professional ant control for help.
• Spiders at home love dark corners to spin their webs. Your storage bed space is definitely ideal. Spiders also like to choose homes that already have a secondary pest infestation, for example small flies and ants, which provide them a source of food.
• Cockroaches at home are one of the most unwanted pests all year round. Not only they are unhygienic, they reproduce quickly to form an infestation which could get out of control. Being nocturnal pests, cockroaches like to hide in the day and emerge from the same place every night to look for food. The storage bed again, is one likely area it’ll seek harborage in the day.

If you’ve seen lizards at home, it may not be as alarming compare to seeing cockroaches because lizards are considered to be useful more than being harmful.

The bedroom is also a common pest haunt for various reasons. Besides the warmth the bed bugs seek, it also attracts other pests due to poor housekeeping and sanitation, and presence of food source and water, especially for rooms with connecting bathrooms. Start to cultivate regular housekeeping regime to keep pests away.

• Vacuum the bedroom and dispose the waste carefully to avoid slippage of pests
• Steam clean bedding, curtains, rugs or carpets and any fabric upholsteries
• Place a floor mat to trap water and leaving the bathroom
• Avoid placing any bags, items or suitcases on the bed to avoid transferring bugs over
• Carefully place the dirty linen in the laundry bag and wash with high heat temperature
• Keep a lookout for pest infestation signs such as shed skins, droppings or blood stains

Read also: Can You Have Bed Bugs Even in Clean Homes?

With all the clutter underneath, it is hard to reach areas you want to clean up. Over time, you’ll give up wanting to clean this area and it results in dust and dirt accumulating. An untouched, dirty and dark space ultimately attracts all kinds of pests to seek shelter, warmth and food in there. It is just like the space you find in most of the attics in homes.

Prevent the storage bed from becoming a pest world in there, take extra pest control care and keep your home easy to clean. Rentokil is just a call away at 6347 8138.